Monterey County draws mixed results in state report on children's well-being

A comprehensive report on the well-being of California's children reveals large variations based on where they live, their race and other factors.

Children Now this week released its annual score card assessing children's health, education and access to services.

The report analyzed publicly available records from a variety of sources to point out bright spots and weaknesses in counties' support of children.

"Our public policies should work equally well for all children, but this report shows they're not," said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, an Oakland-based children's advocacy group.

Monterey County scored in the bottom third of California's 58 counties on 17 of the 28 factors analyzed in the report.

Regarding education, Monterey County children saw improvements in nine of 12 categories, including performance on standardized tests and other factors such as the number of classrooms with high-speed Internet access.

Despite the improvements, the county scored in the bottom two-thirds in 11 of the 12 education categories.

Some education categories have seen statewide improvements. For example, the percentage of seventh-graders who met or exceeded state math standards increased in 56 out of 58 counties, including Monterey County. Yet Monterey County is tied for third worst in the state at 37 percent.

One education statistic showing little improvement statewide was the percentage of 12th-graders who graduate on time, with increases seen in only 12 counties. The state average was 76 percent. Monterey scored in the bottom third at 71 percent.

Along with disparities seen across counties, large differences in education were seen across race and ethnicity. For example, in Monterey County, 67 percent of Latinos and 63 percent of African Americans graduated on time, compared with 82 percent of whites and 78 percent of Asians.

Monterey County Assistant Superintendent Jeanne Herrick cited unique challenges for the county, including high poverty rates and the large number of non-native English speaking students, as reasons the county has fallen below the state average in several education categories.

Herrick said the county is looking to the future by gearing up for a change in the way student performance is assessed. The county will prepare for a new set of statewide tests, to be implemented in 2015, by training teachers to emphasize deep thinking and comprehension in classroom lessons.

Monterey County performed no better on issues related to children's health, scoring in the bottom two-thirds of all counties in each of the six health categories, including weight management.

The percentage of county children with healthy weights was 62 percent, compared with the statewide average of 69 percent, despite Monterey County scoring in the top third of counties in children's access to healthful food at grocery stores, produce stands or farmers markets.

Krista Hanni, the Monterey County Health Department's planning, evaluation and policy manager, said the county is working to ensure that in the places where children live and play, the easiest food choices translate to the healthiest choices. One such initiative aimed at improving the nutrition of low-income children involved working with farmers markets to accept CalFresh payments.

"Reports like these can underscore our need for collaborating with a variety of partners to increase access for all kids to programs that allow them to achieve their full health potential," Hanni said of efforts to weave health-improvement measures into county transportation, housing and land-use policy.

Among other bright spots for Monterey County were double-digit increases in the stability of children's placement in the welfare system and their access to dental services. Monterey County scored in the top third statewide for both categories.